The Dr Rant Team's favorite type of cash.
Another day, another round of GP bashing. The BBC report with glee the 'findings' of the National Audit Office that GPs are making more money than they used too. Nicky Fucking Campbell, the Fivelive gobshite, was in semi-orgasmic paroxysms as he read out a text message this morning. It was from 'Dan from Coventry' and stated that 'I work a 69 hour week, and make £250. Why should GPs make so much money?'
I'll tell you:
When I was a teenager, I was working every hour of the day to get decent A-levels. My friends were all out playing football.
When I went to university, I was attending hundreds of lectures and studying on the wards. My friends were smoking dope and getting laid.
When I was in my twenties as a junior doctor, I was working 100 hour plus weeks in a London shithole hospital dealing with heart attacks and strokes, for 'class 3 ADH' payments, i.e., half what the cleaner earned per hour. My friends were out having early afternoons and long weekend breaks.
When I was in my thirties, I was starting out in GP land doing a 1 in 2 on-call, with responsibility for patients on my list for 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, for no extra money beyond the 9 to 5. My friends had dinner parties, and wondered why Mrs Rant frequently came on her own.
And a few years ago, when no junior doctors in the UK wanted to become GPs, the government introduced better wages, for performance related pay. And my friends read the bullshit in the media that stated I was 'overpaid'.
So, the answer, 'Dan from Coventry', is that I am paid what I am because I fucking deserve it. If you wanted to be paid as much, all you had to do was give up your football, smoking dope, getting laid, most of your twenties and thirties, and your family life. You now spend, 69 hours a week doing something a monkey could be trained to do if you only earn £250. Simple, eh?
The National Audit Office can go and fuck themselves. If 'Dan from Coventry' doesn't like how much GPs are paid, then he shouldn't be surprised when we all 'do a dentist' and fuck off to work privately.
Oh, and Dan mate - you must be a fucking thick wanker if you haven't worked out that you only earn £3.62 an hour - that's less than the minimum wage.
Stupid cunt.
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23 comments:
Nice to see professional standards in a member of the medical profession.
Dr Rant, I congratulate and salute you for you acerbic genius.
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Doctors can annoy me so much but I do appreciate the amount of work that they had/have to do. Oh by the way you really must have worked hard because all the JHO's and SHO's (FY1's and 2's are a more serious bunch) were all real piss heads and enjoyed life in their 20's where I worked but still managed to progress.
If your job requires you to wear a namebadge after the age of thirty, you've probably shit it somewhere along the line. I fucking hope that GPs do "do a dentist" if it stops half the scrounging chavs I have to put up with off. People effectively pay less for health insurance than having a hamster insured. Sort those priorities out, people!
*applauds*
I can understand Dr Rant's frustration and he is right to be angry. Doctors work very hard from early childhood and lose out on much of the joys others have while doctors are stuck in their books and their non ending tough exams and stressful work thereafter, but the majority do it with genuine integrity, compassion and real advocacy for their patients. Why are they then begrudged the fruits of their hard labour?! IMO, They have every right to earn a decent income if only as pay back for their non ending hard work then their continuing effort to upgrade their knowledge for the benefit of their patients.
Achievement should be celebrated and rewarded and doctors do deserve it. This current campaign portraying doctors as greedy, non caring golf course fanatics is not true and very unfair.
BTW, I personally think doctors have every right to be on the golf course after all the hard work they do.
Somehow the media seem to have ignored the fact that we have been vastly UNDERpaid for the last 20+ years. Leaving their astonishing ignorance the reason we are 'well' paid is because the job we do is so important- not to put too fine a point on it the decisions we make every day for our patients are life and death; there are few things more important to all of us than our health. Its just very disappointing that the Government don't seem to appreciate this. Our patients by and large do though which I predict will cause this Government's undoing. Just hope it happens before the American corporates own the NHS..
I am very happy for you to receive your reward, you do a demanding and stressfull job. You obviously worked hard and trained hard for your proffesion.
Here is the "but" do you not think that your proffesion ie. the BMA is in part responsible for the protocols, the psuedos, the false waiting lists and many problems that infect the NHS?
Emphatically not. The BMA have been less than forceful in their defence of the profession, and I would rather they concentrated their efforts more effectively, but the responsibility for all the crazy, harmful and wasteful "reforms" that are crippling the NHS lies squarely with the government. They never seem to learn from previous mistakes and, having dug themselves and the rest of us into a hole, they just keep digging! Their solution seems to be instead of asking for advice from the health professionals in the NHS, which might provide a ladder out of the hole, they pay a private company for a silver plated shovel to keep on digging!
I am saving that image for my email of resignation to the Local Health Board :-) Had some explaining to do though when my shitty 20th century PC crashed for the 3rd time this morning and the image was left on as I scrambled to turn off PC at the wall as the 85year old lady stared at it from her chair..
Though obviously you've worked hard, it doesn't mean that other's haven't worked hard too and yet get less rewards. One of the reasons doctors get paid more is because the NHS wants to combat 'brain drain' as doctors leave the UK and seek out the highest paid positions. Seeing as in the UK we pay more than many other places around the world, it does seem to a 'pleb' like myself that some are in it for the money, and will happily go private / go overseas if there is significantly more money to be made.
Also as to Dan - surely you can understand that loads of people at the bottom end of the ladder get exploited ridiculously by their employers. That's why the general populous sometimes think it's silly when doctors who get paid more than any equivalent profession go on about being underpaid - because the level of exploitation in practically every other sector is vastly greater.
I think in summary it's a lot about perspective. Of course doctors will think they are entitled to large rewards after working through university and so on - but others may work harder (and doctors are certainly not exclusive in not going out during school - I barely had time either and I'm doing a social science now which will lead to a salary roughly 1/5 - 1/4 of yours) during their week with more hours but get paid significantly less. I think it's really ignorant to just call them stupid. If you've got to put food on the table, you've got to do it however you can. Even if that means bending over backwards for your employer.
I think in this light - relatively speaking - doctors have it pretty easy. There was a non scientific study on recently by the BBC along the lines of how much people earn, and they cited someone or other saying that the most stressful jobs do tend to be those around the £20k-£30k mark in customer service (call centres etc.).
Actually doc, I think you're a bit out of order there.
When I was a teenager at the age you were studying for A levels - I was serving in the Forces (enlisted at 15). One must assume that it's because there are people willing to serve in the forces that you are able to lead the life you lead in the first place. How goes the saying? ..." If you can read thank a teacher. If it's in English, thank a soldier"
No doc, he doesn't get £362/hour - he gets at least minimum wage but by the time he's paid a higher proportion of his income in taxes than you pay - which, believe it or not, is the way this shit system works - that's all he is left with.
Methinks that maybe you're not as knowledgable as you think about the lives some of your patients have to live. I agree you do have a legitimate gripe, but many people quite justifiably think you have it good - which is why the gov and the media can get away with throwing so much shite at you.
Since leaving the forces I've been to (a proper) university and got a good Degree, been to another (proper) uni for postgrad.
I've four times been refused a job as an admin asst. It don't get much lower than that mate.
Don't you accept that yes, some people fuck things up for themselves - but some people get trapped by circumstances. And as for people being thick? Well, they can hardly help that can they?
You enjoy what you do - it IS well paid; it's interesting; mildly stimulating. In my book that that is not work - work is when you fucking hate what you do but every day you have to go there and do the same shite hour after hour for day after day for a pittance. Most people have to do exactly that.
Because that's the way this shite system works. Think you ought to reflect.
Junior doctors get less than this call center employer anon ... that is after 4 A levels at A grade, 6 years of uni and the most notorious of exams. My daughter earns less than a supervisor at Mc Donalds after all this!
As for the seniors pay, why don't we compare doctors to politicians, bankers, lawyers .. etc, you'll find doctors earn much less and work harder
What professions are equivalent to doctors in the value system of contemporary UK?
Well, as a salaried GP about 18 months ago I was nominally paid about £45 per hour (plus pension contributions) BUT - that was based on only being paid for time spent seeing patients. When I factored in all the time spent on paperwork, meetings, phone calls etc not to mention "professional development" it was more like £25-£30 per hour.
Obviously, that's more than a shelf stacker in Tesco but it compares with rates charged locally by:hairdressers, masseurs, beauticians and hopi ear candlers. All these charge £60-£80 per hour so, if one allows 60% of their take as overheads their time is about as valuable as mine as a GP in the eyes of the public.
Sir Henry Morgan is right - I can tell a similar tale. The trouble is - our legislators, too many of whom are professional politicians, trade unionists,PR men etc, don't have a clue how real professionals work.
"work is when you fucking hate what you do but every day you have to go there and do the same shite hour after hour for day after day for a pittance. Most people have to do exactly that."
well, I'm a doc although not from the UK. That's exactly how I feel about my job. I hate it so much, every second I'm there. I feel helpless as I'm not financially in a position to retrain. Even at the weekends when I'm off, I dread going back so much that I ruin the weekend for myself. By the way, I have done 56 hour shifts with NO sleep as part of an overall 100 hour week many times. I have vomited from exhaustion before. Don't give me that "oh other people work just as hard too" crap. No one I know has ever been forced to do this or be fired. It's against the Geneva convention. At times I have had symptoms of PTSD from it, as have other docs I know, one of which killed herself aged 26 recently. Granted there has been working hours reform in the UK now, but many of the older doctors would have been put through similar hell in the past, and by God, high wages alone are not enough. They should be entitled to compensation.
"Obviously, that's more than a shelf stacker in Tesco but it compares with rates charged locally by:hairdressers, masseurs, beauticians and hopi ear candlers. All these charge £60-£80 per hour so, if one allows 60% of their take as overheads their time is about as valuable as mine as a GP in the eyes of the public."
Christ on a bike! Who cuts your hair? Even in London it shouldn't cost more than a tenner for a bloke if you're having a normal haircut.
From what I recall from Peter Snow's "What Britain Earns" the average hairdresser earns about £9,000 per annum, however, they were one of the happiest occupations.
I don't think the NAO deserves to be ranted about quite like this. It was only a matter of time before a dispassionate analysis of the GP contract cockup was published, and its findings were predictable. So, what have been the tangible results? GPs are now even better paid than they were before; they can now afford even bigger houses, cars, etc, yet their morale is still poor....and the contract is now so generous that they face real competition from private healthcare companies who, not unreasonably, would like a "piece of the action".
David
None of us is frightened of competition provided always we are allowed to compete on a level playing field. But we cannot. Our contract prohibits us from doing many of the things the private companies can offer.
John
John
If you were to tear up your contract and "do a dentist" as Dr Rant suggests, then I'm sure you would be able to compete with the private healthcare providers.
David
I hope they don't do a dentist, as everyone would suffer. Wouldn't it go the way of the legal system - the poor would receive minimal / stretched healthcare, whereas the few doctors who are very good and don't hate their job would get paid extremely well by private insurers. I have a private dentist and she's fanatical about it, and have to say she's worth the extra money because she treats you like a person.
If doctors did go that way, surely many doctors would be worse off too (or emigrate?), since they wouldn't find a profit in the poorer areas and in the richer areas all the best doctors have moved in already. (This is exactly what has happened in the legal profession) We need to find some middle ground. Of course other professions find it just as tough at times, every career has its up and its downs.
I think doctors will suffer more in the short term future though, the country just cannot afford the cost of healthcare as a national bill anymore. I think this is why the NHS is so stretched. But with the global economy looking like it's headed for recession, I doubt a pay increase for doctors would go down well.
You pick your career and you do it, and you get paid for it. Every job has paperwork. Every job has the shitty jobs nobody really wants to do. But most people get on with it and look forward to the weekend when they can get slashed. It's just picking a career as a doctor - you have to acknowledge you can't switch off like that. It's the same if you're a PC or a fireman or a soldier. You're never off duty.
It's part of the job, and really why I couldn't work in public service.
I am absolutley disgusted by this 'doctor''s rant. What an idiot of the firstorder. Good God! We don't put our trust, health and lives in the hands of someone like this, really! I've never seen a struggling doctor where I live, a cleaner maybe? There are 'good' doctors and 'bad' doctors. Just as there are good and bad anything.Still cant believe the attitude though, it's supposed to be a vocation. Go and get a cleaning job then? Quack!
I am an A level student currently working towards Medicine as a career to study at the University.
Frankly, I am in no position to judge Nicky on the rants about how hard you have to work for Medicine, nonetheless I don't think it's right to rant about something 'that's supposed to be a passion' No doubts frustration,sleep deprivation, tiring mental challenges, family commitment,working unsociable hours, weaklings pay for a number of years, amongst many other things can almost switch you off every now and then, causing you to almost regret going down this route.So the conclusion will be that if U (ignorantly and stupidly) go into medicine for the money, U had better hope you have perseverance to stay faithful till you move up the hierarchy to earn the well deserved pay, if not, love of money will lure you out of studying or u will die of exhaustion. The better option is to love the career, and when the hard times come around(and they will)persevere!! Medicine is a way of life, hopefully other areas of your life will be as great and loving; less frustration though...
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